Fitness and Health

Hike through Cheaha Falls…and a Couple of Parrotheads

January 24, 2013

A couple of summers ago, Ryan took me on my first hike (other than through the grand canyon). It was a very spontaneous trip, so I thought. I was visiting him in Birmingham, where he was living at the time, and so we thought why not? We packed two sandwiches and lots of water and off we went towards Mount Cheaha! North Alabama is absolutely beautiful. The mountains are breathtaking and who knew we had so many waterfalls? The hike itself was pretty short, but we spent a lot of time enjoying the views.

*Photos were taken by me with my Nikon.

Look at that view! (ow ow hottie!)

As we were walking we came up to this…

We decided to climb it and it was well worth this view…

Top of the waterfall.

As we were walking back to the car, Ryan told me he had a surprise for me. He had tickets to the Jimmy Buffet show in Gulf Shores! The show was to help benefit the victims of the oil spill. It was on the beach, and was a dream come true for me. I’m a huge Parrothead and had never been to one of his concerts. Of course we made a pit stop by my house to freshen up and grab our swim suits. We had so much fun!

*Photos were taken with my iPhone. Please excuse the blurriness.

This was literally the perfect day. I later found out that he was planning to propose to me that day, but couldn’t because my ring was still being made. He proposed two weeks later. 🙂

Get Fit, Be Healthy + {Giveaway}

January 18, 2013

Get Fit, Be Healthy is a new series I am starting to hold myself accountable from week to week and hopefully motivate you along the way. I am not an expert in health or fitness, but I danced for 20 years of my life and cheered in high school. I have studied health and fitness, although I do not have a degree in either. My goal is NOT to LOSE weight but to get HEALTHY. According to this BMI chart, I am actually on the low end of the normal range for my height. I just want to get in the habit of living a healthier lifestyle and if I lose weight along the way, then great!

All through high school and my first year of college, I was a bit under weight. I blame it on dancing and cheering daily. I was constantly on the go and it didn’t catch up to me until sophomore year of college. I looked like I needed to eat a burger. Let’s be honest, I did gain some weight, but I was happy that I did because now I am at a healthier weight. Enough about that…

I’m going to be extremely honest with you. In the last couple of months (around Thanksgiving to be exact), I completely stopped working out. I have always really enjoyed working out and staying fit, but about once a year I go through a phase where I am tired of working out and I stop cold turkey. Well, enough is enough! This week, I started back and it was a bit tougher than I expected. I used to do the elliptical for an hour and felt great. Tuesday I completed 13 minutes on the elliptical and felt like I was going to pass out. NOT good. It was very humbling for sure.

I have always done better with a workout partner. It helps to have someone to that will keep me accountable and motivated. Lately, I haven’t found a good workout buddy because all of my friends are either pregnant, have moved, don’t have the time or just don’t want to. So it’s all up to me. That’s why I decided I would start this series so that you can help keep me accountable and maybe I can motivate you too!

Via

If you are working out for the first time or for the first time in a while, it is important to start out slow. Do not over do it because you can get over-heated, pass out, injure yourself or damage your heart. Slowly work up to your goal. I have issues with this because I really enjoy pushing myself physically. I get really frustrated when I can’t do something, and so I keep going until I can. That’s not always a good thing and can be dangerous.

Via
Because what’s a good fitness post without Paula and Mean Girls?

Another important part of health is your diet. This is something I really struggle with. I love chocolate, Chinese food, Mexican food, and pizza. These are possibly the worst types of foods you can eat. They are packed with bad carbs, starches, grease, calories etc. The best foods you can eat are fruits and veggies in their most rare or pure form. I’ve made it a personal goal to eat at home more often this year and to eat healthier foods. I found a recipe for a Green Monster Smoothie by Neely at A Complete Waste of Make-up. I’ve made these for lunch every day this week because they are so filling and extremely healthy. The only thing I changed is that I do not add Truvia because the sugar in the fruit makes it plenty sweet for me.

Here are the workouts I completed this week:
Monday: 1.5 mile walk
Tuesday: 13 minutes elliptical, half mile walk, 10 push-ups, 50 crunches
Wednesday: 1.5 mile walk
Thursday: This yoga sequence by Mandy Ingber via Women’s Health

Goal for next week: To workout harder and longer than I did this week. Eat something green every day.

What are your goals this week?

I hope you find this new series motivating. Please let me know if you have any tips, advice, or questions (that I may or may not be able to answer). I’m very excited to get this started! Good luck to you on achieving your goals this week!

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Enter Paige’s giveaway in the rafflecopter below:

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{GUEST POST} Tarole at “Island Livin’ with One Haole Girl”

December 7, 2012

Aloha all you Southern Sunflowers and Coffee Bean readers!

I’m Tarole and I blog over at Island Livin’ with One Haole Girl

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Bloglovin’

I’m stoked that Logan is allowing me to guest post today! I absolutely love her blog and I think she is so stinkin’ adorable! Don’t you agree?

Moving on..

Today I’m bringing you a post on health/fitness. I’m such a health nut and am always looking for work out routines and new healthy recipes. I have an entire blog dedicated to leading a healthy lifestyle (plus it acts as GREAT motivation!) You can visit it here.

There are SO many ways to lead a healthy lifestyle. Whether it be in the kitchen, in the gym, or what have you. People think they have to spend tons of money on “healthier” foods or memberships to a big fancy gym. No. Wrong. I don’t have a gym membership, nor do I waste money on those packages claiming to be “fat free” or whatever they say these days.

Want to know the secrets to my success?

Yup.

She’s The Biggest Loser coach for a reason people!

Things I love about the 30 Day Shred video:

You can work out in the comfort of your own home – not a stinky, sweaty gym with creepy guys staring at you.
All you need is a set of hand weights, and a mat if you’re on a hard surface.
It’s only 20 minutes with a 2 minute warm up and a 2 minute cool down.
There are THREE levels so you can work your way up as you get stronger and more fit.
She has two friends working with her. One for beginners and one for more advanced. You can make it as hard or as easy as you want.

Personally, I use a set of 5 lbs weights. I have a smaller frame, so to tone and be lean, I use a lighter set of weights, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still working my ass off. I also use a set of 2 lb ankle weights to add a little extra to the work out.

Don’t think I just get by on a 20 minute video work out.

I’m also a huge fan of running. Living in Hawaii I am blessed with beautiful scenery which makes running a heck of a lot easier. But honestly, anyone can do it. And it’s the fastest way to shed that fat that’s covering up all of your defined muscles! 🙂

When it comes to running, people always have misconceptions. “I need to run hills”, “I need to run as fast as I can”, “I need to run every day”.

Whooooaaa pump the brakes there Sally.

No. Wrong.

Some facts about running:

Running on flat surfaces with slim you down, while running hills will bulk you up.
Women who regularly JOG live about 5.6 years longer than women who don’t jog.
Higher mileage isn’t always better – You don’t have to run 8 miles every time you run!
Running in the rain or cold does NOT mean you will get sick.
There’s no set speed you have to keep while running. Set YOUR own pace.

Read more on running myths here

I am training for a half marathon, so I actually will run 5 nights out of the week. It’s *ok* to have a rest day or two. Your body needs time to keep up and change the way you want it to.

Of course listening to music can help with the process. I like to listen to the “Workout” station on Pandora while I run. It has upbeat music that helps me to set a good pace and gets my mind off of the actual exercise. I also use the app “Nike+ Running” It works as a GPS, records your time, pace, and distance. It also has an option for “root me on” where people can drop messages to help you keep going! Plus, it still allows me to listen to Pandora!

Moving on to Health/Nutrition

You know that saying, “abs are made in the kitchen”? Well, it’s true.

Often times people think working out on the regular will allow them to eat whatever kind of junk they want.

No. Wrong.

Working out will dramatically increase your fitness, but you have to be in full force if you want that dream body, or to simply live a healthier life style.

“But Tarole, healthier foods are SO expensive”

I bet you there is a farmer’s market at least once a week somewhere close by where you live. These days people are all about locally grown and organic. Farmers markets are a GREAT way to save money while getting those healthy fruits and veggies you need to have a balanced diet.

Pay attention to your problem areas. There are specific foods that are geared more towards specific areas. For example, my problem are is the midsection. I like to store a lot of belly fat for some weird reason. So I like to stick to foods packed with protein, omega -3 fatty acids, and fiber (spinach, fish, and nuts). There are so many foods that can help sky rocket your metabolism. That in itself will shed body fat.

Another app I like to take advantage of is called, “My Fitness Pal“. This is great for those of who who are dieting and exercising to lose weight, but it’s also great for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It’s basically like a food diary. You record everything you eat (you can even scan barcodes of packages and the nutrition facts are recorded for you) insert the amount of calories burned during your workout, and it tells you if you are good to go, or if you need to eat more or burn more calories. It’s a great tool to have!

I’m sorry this post was so long – but you made it through! I could go on and on about this subject. If you have any questions, concerns, or would simply like a few tips in the health/fitness department, shoot me an email – I’d love to help you out!

Stick to a daily routine of health and fitness and this could be your result!

That’s me!

Living in Hawaii – A bikini is an almost every day attire.

I hope you enjoyed my post and found it semi useful! If you’d like, head on over to my blog for more tips and ideas. I have a whole page dedicated to a healthy lifestyle!

Thanks so much Logan for letting me take over and writing an obnoxiously long post. Isn’t she the greatest!

Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas) and Happy Holidays everyone!

Xoxo,

Isn’t she awesome!? And holy cow, I want her body! I know that during the holidays, I need a bit of motivation to stay away from the sweets and get off my tush to work out. I hope this gave y’all the extra push it gave me! Thank you, Tarole!

Be sure to go check out her blog for more tips!